Garrison Miller of Fargo stood in the pit area at River Cities Speedway in Grand Forks by his #5G machine in May. It had been a busy day for the 17-year-old from Fargo.
“I just came from a track meet at Red River,” Miller said.
Earlier in the day, he competed in track and field for Fargo Shanley during a meet at Red River High School in Grand Forks. He is a mid-distance runner for the Deacons. Later in the day, it was time to hop behind the wheel of his POWRi Minn-Kota Lightning Sprint.
He is a started in the lightning sprints in midsummer 2020. Like many area drivers, he started in the go-karts. His family moved to the Fargo area in 2015 from Nebraska.
“My dad went out to the Red River Kart Club in West Fargo, and went out to check the race out, and came back and told me do you want to do this?” Miller said. “I said sure.”
Miller is a first generation racer. He grew up watching racing, but one driver stood out to him.
“I’ve always been watching Donny Schatz. Schatz has been my favorite basically forever,” Miller said.
After a couple of years of karting, Miller moved into the INEX Legends class, buying a car from Ivan Sailer.
He won two features in the INEX Legends class at 141 Speedway in Wisconsin at the INEX Dirt Track Nationals.
“Honestly, I was over the moon that night,” Miller said. “It felt so great — just being around the atmosphere having drivers from all over America, and some guys from Great Britain, Australia, Germany.”
The Millers decided to move into the lightning sprint class in late July 2020.
“I’ve always liked sprint cars since I was a little kid,” Miller said. “I was like, let’s move up a class and try this.”
In seven races this year, Miller has finished in the top 10 five times. He’s still looking for his first top five in a lightning sprint. He did win his first lightning sprint heat at Devils Lake in May.
“My season has been up and down. We have had nights where we are hitting all of our marks and there are nights where we are scratching our heads thinking what we are doing wrong,” Miller said. “it’s all a mental game.”
Miller will be a senior at Shanley High School this fall. He also runs cross country. For the summer, however, his focus is on continuing to improve in the lightning sprint car.
“Just get more experience, and hopefully I can rack up a few more heat race wins,” Miller said.
Driver Profile
Garrison Miller
Age: 17
POWRi Minn-Kota Lightning Sprint #5G
Residence: Fargo, ND
Sponsors: TSR Parts, Skalicky’s Auto Repair, Tommy Boy Street Rods, Miller Racing Graphics, RaRink, 11th Ave Storage
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